I concur with your observation about cocobolo... I recently test drove one of the '11 Fall GS limiteds and was completely underwhelmed by it. It lacked volume & had zero low end. Also, last Nov I got to play a $5k+ Custom Coco Dread at a Road Show. Again, beautiful to look at, but nothing impressive about the tone... just, meh. My GA4 sounds waaaaay better & boy does it have plenty of volume!
Im not sure you can judge all Cocobolo based on the ones you played.. Guitars are like cars, some examples of the exact same model same just seem to be better.. The GA Fall Limited I picked up has ridiculous tone, volume and bass.. It convinced me right on the spot, in a shop with all the highest end stuff you could want.. But I played a few other ones elsewhere first that didn't do it for me either, though..
I happen to like a GA4's as well, but wound up returning one I bought online during Amazons Black Friday sale (for a super cheap price), just because it wasn't a very "special" one at all, either..
tone and looks are so subjective. it's really all about what guitar "speaks" to you. that's why i made it a point to say, "in my opinion" in my post. (at least, i think i wrote that, it was in my head at least!)
my friend loved the 614ce, i wanted to put earplugs in.
when i played a 914ce sitka/rosewood - someone else next to me said "wow that guitar sounds amazing". i was taken aback, b/c my guitar playing doesn't necessitate that type of response
but seriously, i disliked the percieved mid range dip (which actually is shown as a tonal property of rosewood on taylor's page).
i think it has to deal w/ what type of music you enjoy.
i agree not all of the same series guitar sound the same, but it's fair to say that there is a substantial difference in sound from series to series.
i'm always confused about the lure of koa - it just doesn't sound that great to me, but i have never heard one that has been opened up. but i'll never tell someone they shouldn't buy koa, i would only suggest they play it until they find the sound they're after.